You also portray as though wealthy people have bought up all the land are just letting it all sit idle. That's not the case. I'm assuming you don't own land so you see this as way for you not to pay taxes. How is a 15% sales tax not fair, please explain.
I do own land. So, false assumption.
I never portrayed it as though all the land is in the hands of the wealthiest. So, again, false.
A consumption tax discourages production, just like an income tax. A consumption tax also does not necessarily account for "consumed" services. And, trying to account for such and making the determination of which are basic and necessary is much more problematic than is the case with goods. Further, the case of which goods are necessary is problematic. Which food counts as untaxable? Which cars? Which boats? Which planes? Which sets of clothes? Which books? The Fair Tax, since it relies heavily on lowering the current expenses of a complicated IRS cannot have the machinery in place to make these determinations. But, surely, they are determinations that must be made. Someone living in Alaska is going to use more fuel and require more clothing material than someone living in San Diego. Thus, the same tax prefund or nontaxable items in San Diego and Anchorage is both absurd and unfair.
Maybe, just different rules for different zip codes. Fair enough. But what about the "normal" kid who lives across the street from the kid with Palsy or dyslexia? Don't such kids require different basic goods (not to mention services)? Thus either the same prefund and nontaxable items, or some mechanism to make a determination.
The FairTax cannot provide such a mechanism at a low rate. If it increases the rate, it loses much of its appeal. If it provides a huge umbrella of prefunds and nontaxable items and services, it loses its revenue.
Basically, the FairTax, like the current income tax, will run in the red, though maybe not to the same degree as the income tax, or it will be unduly unfair for certain populations.
